Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Science, Humanism, Art, and Hitler

To start off with, most of the painters and sculptors were also scientist, philosiphers, engineers, architects. The production and use of optics was new but growing, there was advancement in design and architecture, and the relationship between people and thier religion was seperating. Humanism is taking accountability and making your own destiny, through facts and science. With the invention of the printing press, which spread languages and knowledge over the continent of Europe, people started actually questioning the church, which at the time was the law and ruled over all country, and they started thinking for themselves, which spread the art of the Renaissance and humanism. Kings of France would import Italian art, so the art of the Italian Renaissance spread through Europe and that's why there are different types of Renaissance. Northern Italy, France, etc. Without science and the advancement in technology we would not have alot of the paintings and sculptures from that time period, in the here and now. There was alot of controversy over the subject matters and the nudity of this style and time period. If there was no sign of Christ, God, Resurrection, Salvation, etc., then it was considered Pagan, and during the time of Giralamo Savonarola and the "Bonfire of the Vanities," the art piece could or would have been destroyed. I think that there are some modern instances of art media that reflect social and religious commentary, but I don't think that they are as controversial as the pieces of this time, because of all the different belief systems in our country. However, in Europe in the 1940's, if you considered language and books a form of artistic communication, then the Nazi brigade and Hitler, with the burning of books he did not find appropriate, would be a more modern example, more like the "Bonfire of the Vanities."

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